DIY: Makeup Brush Holder

April 9, 2012

My oldest daughter is away at college and it’s her birthday this week so I wanted to send her something special for the occasion (and something easy to ship too!) She mentioned she didn’t have any decent makeup brushes so I made a trip to Sephora to splurge on a new set for her. While I was there I thought about something to hold them all and wanted to give her a little handmade gift to go with the new brushes. I thought a cute fabric pouch would be perfect so I stitched up a makeup brush holder with some leftover fabric remnants from my stash.

This was one of those projects that I made up as I went along but I tell you this, if you can sew a straight line, you can make your own too! Here’s how I made this fabric makeup brush holder for my college girl in about an hour.

First grab yourself some fabric, for this I used two remnants, one a blue medallion cotton fabric, the other a cotton duck lining.

Here are the measurements of fabric used:

First start by sewing your inside pouch. Take your first piece of liner fabric (see diagram above) and fold it in half. Lay it on top of the second piece of liner fabric and roughly map out the location of your brushes. They really only need to be spaced about 1inch apart, mine are 1 ½ inches in the picture below which ended up being too much but I added extra pouches in the end so it all worked out. Pin your folded over piece of fabric to your liner piece and stitch together where pinned.

Next stitch the individual brush pouches one by one and varying by size. Use your brushes as your guide if necessary.

To tie it up at the end, you’ll need some straps, so make some with two strips of fabric. To get them right side out, weave a safety pin attached to one edge through the strap to reveal the outside of the fabric. It helps to press the straps flat with an iron before sewing them to the brush holder.

Once your individual brush pouches and straps are sewn, flip the liner + pouch inside out and layer it on top of the exterior fabric. Make sure that exterior fabric is also turned inside out so that the front of the pouch and front of the exterior fabric are facing each other. Pin and sew together, making sure the straps are sewed inside the holder, and allowing 3 to 4 inches of an opening in one corner.

Flip your fabrics right side out to reveal your makeup brush holder, you’re almost done! Now it’s time to seal up your opening.

You can use a simple stitch on top of course (like I did with these placemats) or you can do a decorative edge. Ever since I got this new sewing machine I’ve been dying to try out the fancy stitches so I went for it. Number 50 it is!

OK, how cool is this? I pressed the button and along the seam was an instant decorative edge, uh-may-zing! I used it to seal the opening shut and give the makeup brush holder a little bit of somethin’ extra.

You can fold up the makeup brush kit in a roll and tie it closed with the straps for travel, how fantastic is that?

So that’s my step by step to making a simple fabric makeup brush holder. You can use the same technique to create a holder for artist’s brushes or pens and pencils too.

And now that I look at it, it’s just so darn cute I’m thinking I’ll definitely have to make one for me too!

So pretty. That’s a lucky daughter you have. Handmade gifts are best. (My mom taught me to say “handmade” rather than “homemade,” because she thought it sounded classier. Whatever. Today we just say DIY!) Very nice work, as usual.

So cool, really! Well-organized & takes least space possible!
And wow, they have all these fancy digital sewing machines these days? The last I remember was my grandmother’s machine where she rotated the wheel with one hand to make the needle work. And the ones I’ve seen at tailor shops, rocking their feet on the paddle below to make the needle work on the machine. Old-fashioned stuffed … not sure if you’ve seen those, may be in your childhood? :)

As one of the previous commentors mentioned, this pattern is perfect for knitting needles. My mom made herself one for her HUGE knitting needle collection and I’ve always been meaning to copy it… my needles and crochet hooks end up scattered all over the place and, inevitably, lost. Perhaps I just need to make a whole bunch!

I love that stitch! My sewing machine is pretty basic and old so I don’t have that ability. I’m pretty new to the sewing world but wow, I might have to look into a new one. What a great brush holder. Gorgeous fabric choice :)

You’re not kidding that this is amazing! I just sit here and drool through posts like this (while my eyes glazed over the directions, lol) because the one thing I do not do is sew! Gorgeous…your daughter will love it.

The colors of this are just so pretty. Great fabric choices, in my opinion. I’ve been making something similar to this for my husband’s sketching pencils, and tossing around the idea of doing one (or several) for my pencils, my paintbrushes, my makeup brushes… lol. This one is much prettier than the one I’m throwing together. ;)

This is so stinkin’ cute. I am in awe of your sewing talents. You make it all look and sound so easy and I’d have those cute straps sewn, one to my tee shirt, the other to my finger. In other words, I can’t sew a lick.
Your girl is gonna love this.

Ohhh-kay… At first I thought – cute, but I’m probably never going to get around to this realistically. Then you busted out that stitch-detail-move, and I was all – wh-what?! Well, now I HAVE to do this! :)

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Hi, I'm Kate from Northern California. I'm a bargain hunter, design lover, renovator, and incurable DIYer. I'm on a quest for diamond style on a dime, and out to make my world fabulous, for less, one DIY or decorating project at a time. Learn more.